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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Constraints

This is my fourth week of "training". I call it "training" because I don't think I really know what I am doing. I am just focusing on distance. So today I had 20 miles of biking and 2 miles of running planned. I tried to stick to 15 mph on the bike (it was a stationary bike at the gym) and 6 mph for the run (a treadmill with 2 to 3 incline). I figured that my first priority should be endurance and getting my butt, legs and joints used to repetition.I have a few constraints that force me to do things this way as well. The weather in Pennsylvania is not great, so for the time being riding my bike outside is out of the question. This in turn forces me to do all of my biking at the gym. This being the "pre-Spring Break" period, the university gym is packed all day long, every day. So I try to go at 8 AM when the waiting times are not too long. My second constraint is that we are only allowed to use one facility/ attend one class per day. So I can't use the gym and the pool on the same day. I also can't attend a spinning class and use the pool the same day. On weekends, the hours are rather limited and equally packed.Fortunately, the bikes are usually not in great demand so I can still do 80 minutes of biking in one gym session as long as I keep changing bikes (there is a 20 minute limit on all cardio machines). So I try to do only use the gym for biking (3 times per week) and occasionally combine it with a short treadmill run (1 time per week). I try to do my longer runs outside (3 times per week) and combine them with swimming days (2 times per week). So my final schedule is something like:Monday Run 4 miles outside, Swim 2,400 yds at the poolTuesday Bike 20 miles in the gym, usually with 20 minutes on the elliptical or the rowerWednesday Bike 20 miles and Run 2 miles in the gymThursday same as MondayFriday Bike 30 to 50 miles (30 if the weather is too bad for outside, more if I get to go out)Saturday Day OffSunday Run 6 to 10 miles outside.So far I have been lucky and all my outside runs have worked out. Last Sunday the temperature was -12C (10F) and I survived. Last Friday it was snowing and I managed not to slip. But if the weather gets worse, I will have to find a backup plan...In other news, I signed up for the Happy Valley Sprint Tri on July 3rd. My parents will be in town so they get to pick up the pieces...

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About Me

I just finished my first season of training for everything I could get myself into (which also entailed collecting every gadget I could get my hands on). For the 2011 season, I am hoping to never again enter a race untrained and be a bit more focused with training. If you have any suggestions, please share!